Making up the championship alliance with Canandaigua and Victor was The Charles Finney School, a private Christian school in Rochester. Rising to become final champs at RIT in the competition with thousands of other robotics teams from high schools over the Northeast, the winning trio now advances to the World Championships, being held April 24-27 in St. Louis, Mo.

Scott Chappell, who co-coaches the Canandaigua team, said more than 200 teams from some 32 different countries will compete at the World Championships.

When the team won at regionals, it was an exciting moment, Chappell said: Seeing the kids “work hard for weeks, building a robot from scratch and then getting to compete against other teams ... it is a rush of emotions.”

“It is really exciting to see all this work come together,” said Canandaigua’s co-coach Steve Schlegel.

In Victor, Peter Fleckenstein, the teacher coordinator for the school’s robotics team, said he is always impressed with what the students put into their robotics project, the competition and the involvement by mentors at the school and in the community.

“We compete, but we also support each other,” he said of the program.

This year is especially rewarding as it unites the Canandaigua and Victor teams, he said.

“Victor and Canandaigua have had a rivalry. This is a nice opportunity to bridge all that,” said Fleckenstein.

Each of the teams has about 40 students each, and each is hosting fundraisers to raise the money needed to pay their way to St. Louis.